YEREVAN, May 16. /ARKA/. The arrival of tens of thousands of foreigners to Armenia, mainly from Russia over the last two and a half months, triggered by Russia's 'special operation' in Ukraine, has increased the demand in the local market, but on the other hand, it has become one of the reasons to push inflation up, Hovhannes Khachatryan, Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia, said today while presenting a report on regulator’s performance in 2021..

According to official data, the 12-month inflation in April 2022 was 8.4% up from the same month a year ago. The first four-month's inflation was up 7.4% compared to the first 4 months of 2021.

Khachatryan recalled that at the beginning of the year, the regulator projected 6.5% inflation and 1.5% economic growth and has not reviewed these projections.

The deputy chairman cited the external environment as the main reason, which is inflationary in nature contributing to some extent to economic growth. He stressed that there is a significant increase in external demand.

Armenian government's economic growth projection for 2022 is 7%, while inflation is set at 4% (±1.5%). In March the Central Bank worsened its 2022 economic growth forecast from the previous 5.3% to 1.6%. -0-